In my past posts, I have written posts that seem, in retrospect, a little “angry.” Not aggressive or mean but just angry. Not angry at the characters or issues of the post but angry at education in American high schools, in general. You see, my educational experience before graduate school was not a great experience. I have always loved learning but I have not always loved how it was presented to me. Yeah, sure, I had some good teachers along the way but they were too few. There were some good administrators but even fewer. My experiences as a student were terrible, at best. (I was dirty and quiet and socially poor.) Not that I couldn’t learn because I could learn anything I wanted to. The trouble was that I didn’t want to learn much of what was being taught. I loved mathematics and music. Not much else. As a native Virginian, I loved the drama of the American Civil War. But not the way it was taught in school. I loved athletics but not the way it was taught in school. When I became a teacher in my early 40s, I said to myself, “Let me see what the standard way of teaching is and then I can change it to my liking, so it is more effective than what I was taught.” In my 14 years of teaching, that statement has been my foundation. Then, in my 50s, I worked on a psychology PhD, with a focus on high school mathematics teaching.

Now the PhD is complete and next month I become Dr. Jungian Educator. With this, I feel it is time to “slow my roll” and be more precise about what I believe education should become. During my PhD experience, I had a trusted mentor tell me that I was writing “too bombastic.” I obeyed this advice but I felt deep down that I was expressing my passion about the state of education. I am now ready to truly follow that advice. I will use this forum to explore, “Who am I professionally?” I ask myself this every night, with the hopes that my dreams will help me to answer that question.

In my conversations with my dissertation committee, the three wise professors urged me to write a book on education from my unique view point. I assured them I would and I am going to test out these ideas through this blog. I am hoping the ideas will come fast and furious…and clear. As you hopefully read them, remember that 90% of these are teaching ideas are to be tested later. The ideas are based on my education and experience and instincts as an educator.

When friends find out that I have finished a PhD, they ask me that question, “What do you plan to do with your degree?” I tell them that I have several options; keep on teaching, write a book and/or doing talks about how to teach better. When I thought about these ideas, I realized that my ideas are just conjectures at this point. Well-thought-out conjectures but definitely unproven. As a result, I am thinking about an additional option; an educational researcher. I have given some thought about starting a non-profit organization and to start getting grants to do some educational research independently. At this point, it is just an idea and will keep feeding it until it starts to take its own shape. Wish me luck!